Public Engagement

Introduction

Engagement in community problem-solving is fundamental to sustainability. By engaging with community members and organizations in the governmental, non-profit and for-profit sectors, institutions can help solve sustainability challenges. Community engagement can help students develop leadership skills while deepening their understandings of practical, real-world problems and the process of creating solutions.

Food Solutions New England (FSNE) is an example of a university-based effort to advance regional food system sustainability through collaboration using an engaged scholarship model. Engaged scholarship promotes mutually beneficial ...

How can institutions of higher education partner with host cities to further sustainability efforts? From a landfill gas-to-energy project to a community reuse sale to a Green Ribbon Committee campuses ...

National Association of College & University Business Officers (NACUBO) (DC)

Most students, faculty and administrators wrestle daily with the need to persuade bosses, peers and subordinates to adopt their viewpoint on an immediate issue while simultaneously improving the long-term relationships ...

This session will demonstrate a grant-funded University partnership statewide demonstration project that will use low impact development (LID) and Light Imprint techniques as part of a planned medium density green ...

Students and faculty often look to Europe for best practices when working with sustainability issues such as renewable energy, public policy, food systems, corporate social responsibility, climate change and overall ...

This panel presentation will address building successful partnerships across broad sectors including higher education, government, business, non-profits and communities. The Illinois Green Economy Network (IGEN) is an innovative partnership between ...

Universities and the towns they live in function as separate entities, often coexisting without coming together to solve key issues they both face. Institutions of higher learning and the infrastructure ...

A new model for collaboration under the umbrella of the Institute of Innovation and Economic Development (IIED) was used to create a robust conference. Participants included: five different colleges, government ...

The sustainability charge at this state university is led by the Institute for Sustainability whose mission is to promote, facilitate, and develop educational, research, and University and community programs related ...

In a college dormitory setting where many choices are predetermined for residents, working towards a more sustainable lifestyle can become difficult and frustrating for concerned students. A Creation Care living-learning ...

The Pittsburgh Climate Initiative (PCI) is a collaborative effort designed to lead Pittsburgh's residents, businesses, government, and institutions of higher learning in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. The ...

Today there is an urgent need to provide global sustainability education to all college students through a curriculum that is integrative, transdisciplinary, and addresses all three dimensions of sustainability: ecological ...

A growing number of businesses around the world and in Southwestern Pennsylvania have appointed Sustainability Officers/Coordinators, mirroring the successes of such positions being established at universities.

Benefiting from worldwide media coverage, the Climate Counts Company Scorecard has rapidly emerged as a credible measure of corporate climate responsibility. The Scorecard is driving stakeholder dialogue and soul-searching in ...

DIS - Danish Institute for Study Abroad has created a unique opportunity for American undergraduate students through their sustainable development program in Copenhagen. This is one of the first semester long ...

College students often feel they can do very little to effect political change beyond their local communities and campuses. Traditional political internships sometimes provide glimpses into the inner-workings of politics ...

The Pittsburgh Higher Education Climate Consortium (HECC) is one of the four sector-based elements of the Pittsburgh Climate Initiative (PCI) formally adopted by Pittsburgh City Council in August 2008. PCI ...

This panel presentation will address the role of higher education in sustainability and green economy education. In 2010, in partnership with 14 Illinois community colleges, the Illinois Green Economy Network ...

On campuses small and large, the development of engaged, collaborative stakeholder communities is key to the successful implementation of sustainability programs. Collaborative community development is full of challenges and opportunities ...

The Alternative University Appraisal (AUA) project aims to provide an alternative assessment system for colleges and universities and create a learning community to advance Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). Hokkaido ...

Academic institutions can achieve institutional sustainability goals through service learning projects among their faculty and students. Institutions gain several advantages through this approach, including expedited implementation strategies for achieving sustainability ...

Ecovillages are communities striving to live well and lightly together. From appropriate technologies to holistic health; from sustainable agriculture to group facilitation, ecovillages are integrating solutions within human-scale communities and ...

In May 2010, MIT established MIT Efficiency Forward: a ground breaking, multi-million dollar collaborative energy conservation and efficiency program with our electric and gas utility company NSTAR. The program is ...

The international development sector is one that carries with it the perception that complex academic specializations are prerequisite for involvement. In many cases, "expertise" becomes confounded with academic and field ...

A regional consortium of 12 higher education institutions, representing non-profit, private, for-profit and four year and two year universities and colleges organized a 2-day workshop bringing 100+ participants from multiple ...

Investments in campus sustainability can lead to benefits beyond reduced energy bills, many of which enhance student learning and green economic growth. Speakers will provide an overview and several examples ...

Study abroad is at the heart of an increasingly globalized and experiential higher education learning strategy, as students get to experience life in an entirely different cultural and ecological context ...

This tab provides access to data collected through AASHE’s Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System™ (STARS). STARS is a transparent, self-reporting framework for colleges and universities to measure their sustainability performance. STARS enables meaningful comparisons over time and across institutions using a common set of measurements developed with broad participation from the campus sustainability community. Additional content and advanced benchmarking tools will be added to this tab over time.

Programs and Initiatives

The following links connect to specific Content Displays on the STARS website (AASHE membership and log-in required).